Concrete well strainer



Aug. 28, 1928.

T. W. THORPE ET AL CONCRETE WELL STRAINER Filed Aug. 18, 1927 J r. n Vf. MM r W k $.52 h M w J r m 6% .m b

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICB THOMAS w. rnonrn AND GEORGE E. rnonrn, on nnsMourns, rower; hsslenons ire 'rnonrnnnornnnswnnt COMPANY, acoranrnnnsnrr coiurosnn or enonen n. rnonrn, WALTER r. *rnonrnannrnonasw. crnonrnnnn banner/mins,

. eonennrn WELL isrnarnnn.

Application filed au ust 18, 1927. Serial No. 213,836.

The object ofour invention is toprovide a concrete well strainerofsimple, durable and comparatively inexpensive construction which willoperate efficiently. A i H Stilla further object ism provide aconcretesupporting member adapted to have member.

sections mounted thereonand secured theretoavl1icl1 are' formed with aplurality of openings whereby water may pass through said sections andpass through openings formed in the concrete supporting member.

Still a further object/is to provide a supporting member formed ofconcrete and tubular in outline having a plurality of spaced ribs with alower marginal supporting flange formed integral with the ribs wherebyrecesses are formed for receiving strainer sections. i

Still another object is to form the adjacent edges of the ribs of thesupporting member andthe strainer sections with concave surfaces so thatpockets are; formed whereby soft cement may he packed or placed thereinfor forming abond between the strainer sections and the supporting Stilla further object is? to provide each strainer section with a pluralityofelon gated slit openings, each of said openings being smaller attheiiyreceiving end than at their clischargeendso that any materialpassing into said openings will be tree to continue topass through saidopenings.

Still a further object is to provide a modified form of structurewherein the strainer sections and supporting member are formed integralas single unitary structure.

With these and other objects in View, our invention consists in theconstruction, --arrangelnent and combination of the various parts of ourinvention, whereby .the objects contemplated are attained, ashereinafter more l'ullyset forth, pointed out incur claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawingsfin which: y V

Figure 1 is a top. plan view-of our im proved concrete well strainer:

Figure 2is a side view of the samewith' one st'rainersection removedtherefrom and parts shown" in. sectionto better illustratetheconstructionthereof.

=Figi1i'e'3 is asideview looking SltldOl one ofthe strainer sections.

Figure 4 1s a detail sectional ing member are cast integral.

In the accompanying drawings we have used the reference character Altoindicate generally the supporting member forming a at the in 1 U 0 Viewtaken on the line 4-4 of Flgure 2 and i 7 and supporttil) part of ourwellstrainer in the embodiment ot the supporting member A illustrated inthe accompanying drawings we 1 have shown a supporting member formedwithconcrete and substantially tubular in shape.

The supporting member A is formed with i a plurality ot verticallyarranged outside ribs 10 having their opposite side walls curved orconcave as at 1:2. Thepurpose ot the concave walls 12 of the ribs 10will here inatter be more fully set forth.

The ribs 10 serve a two fold function in that they assist in theretaining of the strainer. sections in the position as will hereinafterbe more fully set forth and at the same time serve to verticallyreinforce the concretesupport A. y p

; A lower marginal flange. 14;" is formed along the bottomedge ot thesupporting member A and is integ al with the lower endsof each of the rbs 10. The vertical. ribs l0 .and the lowermarginal flange-I l formstrainer receiving'section pockets The supportA maybereini'orced withironrods or wirereintorcings as desired dc pending upon the size ofthecompleted well stramer. The T1133 12 materially increase thethiclrnessot the materialot the support Ain the place where the 'ribs 10arefland. reinforce the this makes it possible to easily completedsupporting member A.

The ribs 10 alsjo' have central openings 16 verticallyarranged wherebysuitable tools may beinserted thereinjtor permitting the completedstrainentoflbe lowered intoth'e well open ng and" set for use lnsertedwith 111 each of thestrainer sectionpoclrets B are strainer sections 0.a

Each strainer section curved in hori-: zontal cross section or *in theterm of an arc sowthat when placed w thin the strainer section pockets Bthey will conform to the general contour and outline of the support A asclearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. Each strainer section.0 is

7 vertical ribs or solid portions 18.

4 openings 20 The openings 2i) arelongand marginal flange 14, avpocket22 will he formed; which may be filled withsoit coni 7 height and in theembodiment as illustrated formed of poured concrete and has three:Between the solid portions 18 are, for-med a number of longitudinallyarranged Slit narrow and comparatively small on their outside end whichmay be referred. to as the receiving end of the openings 20. The inneror discharge ends of the openings 20 are comparatively large so that asa matter otfaet the walls of the openings 20 are inclined and wider attheir inner ends; a

t The openings gradually increase 'in size from the OlltGI'yWfllltowards the inner wall t the strainer section proper,-v Each of the twovertical endsofthestrainer section 0 are forniiedwith concave surfacesso:

thatwhen a strainer section is set in between two adjacent ribs ltllandupon the lower e e i A s a Thepocket 22 having "its sides curved orconcave, will allow the concrete 24: when it hardens to firmly hold thestrainer sections G in proper relationship'to the silpport A. Thestrainer sections C maybe ma e ofany -in the-accompanying drawings-wehave showntwostrainer sections placed in each pocket Bone upon theother. i r i i It may be here mentioned thatthe strainer sections may beof any heightvand one strainer section may housed or more, do pendinguopn the manufacturing facilities.

' The wall of the support Ajbetween'the ribs is recessed a small amountas at 2650 that when the strainer sections Care in position,

,1 anarrow vertical pocket is tor-med by the mitting water andythe liketo passthere through and into the interior of the support'As i Wehaveillustrated a set of openingsnear the lower ends oi the strainersections in substantial? alignment with the upper surface of themarginal supporting flange 14'so that whenswater or the like passesthroughthe strainer section (I) and the "pocket 26 it will continue topass into the interioriofthel supr port A through the openings 28. L i

tny sand or the like passingthrough the strainer oueuings 2Q willtpassinto the interior ofthe support A due to the fact that the loweropenings 28 are so arranged asto permit no collecting pocket to beformed between the lower openings 28 and the strainer sections C. i

It will of course, be understood that the wellstrainer isordinarilyplaced in a body of gravel and sandand that some fine sandwill pass intothe openings and thus into the interior of thestrainersupport A.

e will hereinafter describe the method of installation and how thestrainer member functions. In Figure 5 of the drawings we have shown amodified strainer E integrally forrned with ribs 30 forming a part oftheistrainer D. The ribs 30 areuformed at equal distances apart and thespace in between the adjacent ribs 30 have strainer openings 1 32 formedtherein which are of substantially the same shape ings 20. i a t InFigure 5 we have illustrated aniembodiment of our, invention wherein theas the open strainer section and supportingmember are formed as a singleunit. The ribs 30 in the strainer. 5 are formed with suitable open ings32 whereby the strainer may be engaged for positioning it within thewell.

i Practical operation and installations Atterthe strainer sections C areplaced upon the support A and securely fastened therein by the concrete24, then the strainer is in condition to be set or lowered into the wellopening. The strainer as illustrated in Figure 1 is lowered by meansof acable or the like fastened in the openings 16 into the well openingfl 3Water and sand as well as fine silt will pass in through the openings 20and into the interior of the support A through the open ings 28. Afterthe strainer has been properly positioned; a test pump is placed in operation which sucks or draws the waterfront within the support A andwith the water so drawn is the finesandand-silt.

The testpumping continues forsome tim until all the fine sand and siltis drawn through the openings 20 and withdrawn from in andaround thestrainer leaving only the heavier materials such as gravel around theoutside of the strainer. This forms a natural gravel packtor strainerefi'ect and there is no dangerof having fine sandand siltpumped up withwater after the well has been completed and the regular pum equipmentaround the strainer insures a water to the strainer. i

A concrete strainer is verydesirable in that itis more or less porousand does not quick flow of installed. The gravel pac ill) become wornwith age but as a matter of fact the longer it is in use the better itbe comes. 1 The narrow outside openings in the strainer insures us thatthe openings will not become stopped up because they gradually increasein size towards the discharge end of each opening. a

Any mineral growth that forms on the outside of the strainer openingsmay be forced therefrom by dropping a heavy bailer or plunger into thestrainer and the force will break away anycforeign growth upon theoutside.

W'ater within the strainer is in direct contact with water on theoutside due to the arrangement of the openings 20 and 28 which enablesus to clear openings 20 by using the force of a bailer or plunger.

Some changes may be made in the con struction and arrangement of thevarious parts of our invention, without departing from the real spiritand purpose of our in vention and it is our intention to cover by ourclaims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents, which may be reasonably included within theirscope.

We claim as our invention:

1. A well strainer comprising a tubular concrete wall for forming asupport, vertical ribs on the outside of said support, a marginal flangeon saidsupport connecting the lower ends of the ribs together, the wallof the support between said ribs having openings therein and strainersections placed be; tween said ribs and spaced from said wall.

2. A well strainer comprising a tubular shaped support, the walls ofsaid support having openings therein, strainer sections mounted on theoutside of sa d walls and spaced therefrom forming thereby a pocketbetween the support and strainer sections, ribs on the walls of saidsupport between said strainer sections, the edges of said strainersections being connected with said ribs whereby the sections aresupported on the support, the strainer sections and said openings beingin communication with said pocket.

3. A well strainencomprising a tubular shaped support, the walls of saidsupport 4-. A well strainer comprising a tubular shaped support,longitudinal ribs thereon having longitudinal grooves therein,the' ribshaving shouldered portions on each of their sides adjacent the point oftheir connection to the tubular shaped support, strainer sec: tionssecured to said support between said ribs, the ends of said strainersections engag ing said shouldered portions whereby the strainersections are spaced from the tubular support for forming pockets betweenthe tubular support and the strainer sections said ends of the strainersections being provided with grooves which in conjunction with saidgrooved ribs form cement recciving pockets, and means whereby liquid maypass through said strainer and tubular support to the interior of thetubular support.

5. A well strainer comprising a concrete tubular shaped member formedwith vertically arranged grooved rib portions and strainer sectionstherebetween, each of said strainer sections having its sideedgesarranged with vertical grooves which in conjunction with thegrooved ribs form a pocket for receiving cement whereby the strainersections are supported relative to said tubular shaped member. y

Des Moines, Iowa, December 15, 1926.

THOMAS w. 'rnonrn. GEORGE E. THORPE.

